An attempt to force Milwaukee County to seek court action on the proposed Couture high-rise development site has been dropped, three days after a new law was signed to help resolve the site's disputed status.

The County Board on Thursday voted 17-2 to delay seeking a judge's ruling on whether the Wisconsin constitution's public trust doctrine would bar private development at the county-owned Downtown Transit Center site.

The board's vote was requested by Supervisor Patricia Jursik, the proposal co-sponsor, after she acknowledged it didn't have enough support from her fellow supervisors.

Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed legislation that establishes downtown Milwaukee's Lake Michigan shoreline according to a 1913 land use agreement.

Under that new law, the public trust doctrine, which restricts private development on filled lake bed, doesn't apply to the transit center site, at N. Lincoln Memorial Drive and E. Michigan St.

Preserve Our Parks says most of the 2.2-acre site is covered by the doctrine, which the park advocacy group says must be upheld to prevent private development on other filled lake beds throughout Wisconsin. The group cites a map filed with a state agency in 1884, which shows that about two-thirds of the property was then in Lake Michigan before the lake was filled.

Preserve Our Parks has threatened to sue to stop a plan to sell the site to developer Rick Barrett, who wants to build the 44-story Couture hotel and apartment tower. The group says the new law doesn't override the constitutional issue.

Jursik says it makes more sense for the county to seek a judge's ruling, rather than rely on the new law. County Executive Chris Abele disagrees, and lobbied for the law — while opposing Jursik's proposal.

In February, the County Board voted to delay consideration of the proposal until the Thursday meeting. Since then, the state legislation has received widespread bipartisan support from the Legislature, and Walker.

Jursik on Thursday compared the Couture to pyramids built by ancient Egyptian pharaohs. She said ordinary citizens won't benefit from the project, and called the new law's supporters "the ruling elite."

Nevertheless, Jursik said she hoped "we can move forward in good fashion."

With the new law, the Abele administration hopes to now be able to obtain title insurance for the transit center site so a sale proposal can be submitted to the County Board.